Game 14: Quinnipiac (5-6-1, 3-1-0 NEC) at Mount St. Mary's (6-6-1, 3-3-0 NEC)
WHEN: Sun, Oct. 23, 2011, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Waldron Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.
SERIES INFORMATION: Mount leads 8-4-1
LAST MEETING: Quinnipiac (2-1) 10-3-10
FIRST MEETING: Mount (3-0) 10-4-98
LAST MOUNT WIN: (4-3) 10-30-09
IN EMMITSBURG: Mount leads 5-1-0
opening kick... Sunday's match between Quinnipiac and Mount St. Mary's marks the 14th meeting in the all-time series dating back to the 1998 season. The Mount leads the series 8-4-1, but the two teams have each won on their home field in the last four years. The Bobcats won last year's matchup 2-1 while the Mountaineers last win in the series was a 4-3 decision in 2009.
about the bobcats... Quinnipiac comes into the game 5-6-0 overall and 3-2-0 in Northeast Conference play after falling 2-0 to Monmouth on Friday. Junior forward Phillip Surprise leads the team with four goals and four assists for 12 points. Freshman forward Ola Ogonjobi ranks second on the team with four tallies and an assist for nine points while senior forward Durval Pereira is third with two goals and two assists for six points. Freshman goalkeeper Borja Angotia has 30 saves, a 1.66 goals against average and a .667 save percentage.
last time we met… Quinnipiac scored twice in the second half to come from behind to defeat Mount St. Mary's 2-1 on Oct. 3, 2010. Alex Ockford notched his first collegiate goal off Scott Phinith's first point of the season for the Mount in the loss. Chris Davis made three saves for the Mountaineers. Matthew Rothbart scored the decisive goal for the Bobcats in the 87th minute while Pierre Soubrier registered Quinnipiac's other tally. Josh Lavallee made five saves in the winning effort.
last time out… Jimmy Ockford posted a goal and an assist to lift Mount St. Mary's past Bryant 3-1 on Oct. 16. Jimmy Ockford helped give the Mount an early 1-0 lead in the fourth minute when he assisted his brother Alex Ockford's goal in the fourth minute. Freshman Zoncher Dennis scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season while Kyle Patrick, Matthew Steele and Chris Wheeler each recorded an assist on the afternoon. Peter Steve made six saves in the winning effort.
next on tap… Mount St. Mary's will play its final home regular season game of the year on Friday night against Saint Francis (Pa.). The Mount will travel to Robert Morris on Oct. 30 and to Monmouth on Nov. 6 to conclude the regular season.
thank you, seniors… Mount St. Mary's would like to thank seniors Ian Hendrie, Jimmy Kane, Kyle Patrick and Chris Wheeler for their hard work and dedication to Mount St. Mary's and the men's soccer program for the last four years. The quartet will be honored prior to the game against Quinnipiac on Sunday.
the earlier, the better... Mount St. Mary's is 6-0 when it scores in the first half and 0-6-1 when it does not find a twine in the first frame. In addition, the Mount has scored in the first 12 minutes of the game in the squad's six wins while freshman Zoncher Dennis has posted three goals in the first 12 minutes. The freshman has notched the squad's first goal of a match four times this season after scoring his first career tally against Towson on Sept. 1.
in the league... The Mount is 77-90-27 in Northeast Conference matches. The Mountaineers are 39-53-15 under head coach Rob Ryerson in the NEC and 8-2-2 in the conference opener, including four-straight season-opening wins
need a bigger trophy case… Freshman Zoncher Dennis has been named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week four times this season. The freshman has taken the honor for the weeks of Aug. 28-Sept. 4, Sept. 19-25, Oct. 3-9 and Oct. 10-17. He is the first player in program history to earn the top rookie nod four times in a season and is only the second player to nab the award three times, joining senior Chris Wheeler. Dennis is the third player in the Northeast Conference to garner four NEC Rookie of the Week awards dating back to the 1997 season. During the week of Sept. 19-25, Dennis was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week and SoccerSavings.com/Philly Soccer News Men's College Player of the Week to run his award total to four for the week. Dennis was also named NEC Rookie of the Week for the week of Aug. 28-Sept. 4.
the golden sombrero of goals… Freshman Zoncher Dennis established a new Mount Division I record for goals in a game when he found the twine four times against La Salle on Sept. 24. The freshman tied John Tallarido's all-time single-game mark on the afternoon. Tallarido registered four goals against Washington Bible on Sept. 12, 1980 and also accomplished the feat against Millersville on Sept. 16, 1981.Dennis became the eighth player in Mount Division I history to register a hat trick and the first since Chris Wheeler on Oct. 10, 2008.
hendrie finding the twine… Senior Ian Hendrie ranks second on the team with two goals and six assists for 10 points. The senior posted two tallies and an assist against Iona on Sept. 11. Hendrie, who has played in the Mount's defense in two of his four seasons, has six goals and six assists for 18 points.
preseason poll... The Mount St. Mary's men's soccer team has been tabbed to finish fifth according to the Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Coaches Poll. Monmouth, who is the two-time defending NEC Tournament champion winners of the last six NEC regular season crowns, was selected as the unanimous preseason favorite. Fairleigh Dickinson, Sacred Heart and Saint Francis (Pa.) were picked 2-3-4 while the Mount ended in a fifth-place tie with Long Island. Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, St. Francis (N.Y.), Central Connecticut State and Bryant rounded out the 11-team poll.
wheeling and dealing... Senior Chris Wheeler broke the Mount's Division I single-season goal record after scoring 13 times in 2010. The senior also became the program's Division I leader in career goals as a junior and now stands at 35 markers. Wheeler posted a goal and an assist against Long Island on Oct. 9 to become the Mount Division I all-time points leader with 81. Wheeler is the program's all-time leader in shots (279) and could make a move on the all-time goal and points mark. The senior currently has 35 goals to sit fourth in program history, 10 away (John Tallarido, 45, 1979-81) from the all-time mark. In two of his first three seasons, Wheeler has scored at least 12 goals in a year. Next on the list is Tony Pasiakos (39, 1967-70) in second place. On the all-time points list, Wheeler has 81 career points to rank third and needs 20 points to Tallarido's all-time mark (101). Next on the list is Pasiakos (81) in third place and Jaeho Song (85, 1980-83). Wheeler is also the seventh player in Division I history to notch a hat trick when he found the twine against Robert Morris on Oct. 10, 2008. He was named to the NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region first team in 2010 and earned a spot on the All-NEC first team for the second-straight year after earning NEC Rookie of the Year honors and a spot on the All-NEC second team in his freshman year.
wrapping up the non-conference slate… Mount St. Mary's concluded its non-conference slate 3-3-1 after downing La Salle 5-0 on Sept. 24. It marked the first time the squad posted a non-losing mark in non-conference play since finishing 3-3-0 in 2003. The five tallies against the Explorers were the most goals in a game since defeating Robert Morris 6-0 on Oct. 10, 2008.
local rivalries... The Mount once again had a local flavor to its non-conference schedule, playing three of its seven non-conference matches against teams from the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. The Mountaineers opened the season at UMBC on Aug. 27 (L, 0-1) and then traveled to Towson on Sept. 1 (T, 1-1) and hosted Howard (W, 2-0) on Sept. 19.
new to the mountain... Head coach Rob Ryerson has added 11 new players to his 2011 squad. Justin Connor, Dom De Aragao, Joshua De Aragao, Vlad Finn, Daniel Gill, Mauricio Navarrete, Will Pereira, Mark Plaisance, John Richards, Brett Smoot and Matthew Steele all joined the team for the 2011 season.
players from down under... Senior Chris Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia) and his brother Patrick Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia) are the second and third players to play at the Mount from Australia. Chris Davis, the first Australian born player in Emmitsburg, graduated in May 2011.
foreign flavor... Along with the Chris and Patrick Wheeler, who hail from Australia, junior Will Jagger (England), sophomore Koudzo Komlan (Togo) and freshman Zoncher Dennis (Ivory Coast) also came to the Mount from abroad.
the family continues to grow... Head coach Rob Ryerseon has coached six of the nine brother combos in Mount men's soccer history. Senior Chris Wheeler and sophomore Patrick Wheeler and junior Alex Ockford and sophomore Jimmy Ockford will play together for the second-straight season. In 2011, the brothers of Dom and Joshua De Aragao joined the squad to become the ninth set of brothers to play men's soccer at the Mount.
home sweet home emmitsburg... Under head coach Rob Ryerson, Mount St. Mary's is 41-31-4 at home, including 5-1-0 this season, 4-2-1 in 2000 (Ryerson's first season) and 5-1 in 2003.
waldron family stadium... Mount St. Mary's is 22-17-2 at the Waldron Family Stadium. The squad moved into the state-of-the-art 1,000-seat Waldron Family Stadium for a full season in 2007. The Mount played three games in the venue in 2006, posting a 2-1 record. The Mountaineers lost their inaugural match at the stadium to Monmouth 3-0 on Oct. 15, 2006 before ending the season with wins against Sacred Heart (2-1) and Northeast Conference Tournament bound Fairleigh Dickinson (1-0 2OT).
friday night lights... Mount St. Mary's played its first two night games at Waldron Family Stadium in 2009 and have posted a 4-3 mark under the lights. The Mount will host Howard (Sept. 19) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (Oct. 28) at night in 2011.
about the coach... Head coach Rob Ryerson is entering his 12th season at the helm of the men's soccer team at the Mount, posting a career record of 69-111-24. He has led the Mount to a 39-53-15 mark in NEC regular season games. Ryerson was named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the Mountaineers to a 9-10-1 overall mark and a 5-4 record in league play and the squad's first NEC Tournament appearance since 1999 in the 2008 campaign.
